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Friday, August 8, 2014

In most towns in this country we don’t do a very good job of
prioritizing bicycle transportation – despite the many benefits of a bigger
mode share for bikes.The bike
share systems springing up around the country have been a great success, but
the rest of what passes for bike infrastructure usually consists of some green
paint and “share the road” signs at best.(Sharing the road often meaning sharing a potholed free-for-all with
18-wheelers, racing taxi drivers, and drivers talking on cellphones!)

Thanks to Gizmodo (here) for showing us the latest from
Copenhagen, where good planning and design really work for bikes.Some of these solutions are relatively expensive,
like bike-only bridges.Others
harness relatively inexpensive technology.I especially like the “green wave” of LED lights letting
bicyclists know they are moving at a pace that will give them a green signal at
upcoming traffic lights.Lots more
to do here in the U.S.!

Monday, August 4, 2014

The impact of Pennsylvania’s Act 89, raising new
transportation revenue from motor fuels, is beginning to be felt.DVRPC – the Philadelphia area MPO – has
just added $10.5 Billion in new investments to their long-range plan (story
here)!

The new revenue is split roughly in half between highways
and transit.The transit piece
will allow SEPTA (the regional operator) to get a little beyond the massive
need for system preservation and actually add a couple of extensions.One of these, the extension of the
Norristown High-Speed Line to the King of Prussia mall complex, could
ultimately have real impact on land use and mobility issues (see comparison to
Tysons Corner here).This just
scratches the surface of what we really need to do to build a real 21st
century transportation system in the next 25 years, but at least it’s a start.

On the highway side, half of the funding will go for
bridges.Pennsylvania has the
dubious distinction of leading the nation in structurally deficient bridges,
and PennDOT is aggressively moving forward to attack the problem. The highway side also includes expanded bike/ped funding.

What is noteworthy, as I have mentioned before, is that this
revenue growth has been achieved in a state with a Republican governor and
legislature.This should be enough
to challenge stereotypes and to encourage vigorous action in other states and
even (we have to say “even”) at the federal level.

There are many factors behind Pennsylvania’s step forward,
but a major one is leadership.There were many leaders involved, including Governor Corbett, PennDOT
Secretary Schoch, former governor Rendell, and others.But first prize undoubtedly goes to
State Senator John Rafferty, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, who
shepherded the bill from inception to signing.His explanation for his commitment to the bill?:transportation is a core function of
government, and we need to fix it.Refreshing.